51吃瓜

Protestors at Standing Rock keep up the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The conflict over a section of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAP), along with聽other pipelines聽 in Texas聽and back in June in , poses pressing issues ranging from indigenous rights and landscape preservation, to the prevention of pollution of waterways and the commodification of drinking water, to climate change and energy independence.

While the DAP pipeline was聽as a way of relieving America from dependence on foreign fossil fuels, in actuality the pipelines will siphon crude oil for聽export. And while Native Americans, namely the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North Dakota, initially agreed to the pipeline as a source of economic development, promises of responsible construction were broken as historic sites were bulldozed, including , which had just been discovered and were under review by the state historic preservation office. The Sioux were excluded from consultations throughout the rest of the process.

Legal Loopholes

To begin with, the pipeline was approved through a loophole as several small projects judged by states and counties. This process and, most importantly, the minimum four-year environmental-impact study that it would have entailed had the company, Energy Transfer (ET), the project. Keystone XL was rejected after a federal approval process, and ET has taken care to avoid the same move.

鈥淪o this approval happened in less than a year,鈥� says Chris Newell, an education supervisor at the Pequot Museum in a phone interview in November. 鈥淲e take all the environmental risk for this private company that is not serving the public. The oil leaves the country, and over 50% of the banks [that invested in the pipeline] are foreign. So the money made is leaving the country as well.鈥�

There have been many instances where oil agreements with indigenous nations have not worked out as originally planned. 鈥淚n Texas, an oil company set up the Bakken shale oil, and some of the natural gas was supposed to be capped to heat homes on the reservation, but the company just burned it,鈥� said Newell.

鈥淭here鈥檚 also a history of uranium mining where water resources have been permanently poisoned on the . There are now high rates of thyroid cancers there and no way for tribes to have recourse for the damage done to the land.鈥�

Since reservations are reduced to the smallest amount of land that the federal government is willing to allocate to聽a tribe, indigenous nations depend on a small base. They must protect resources for survival, and without clean water, the land does not support them. 鈥淚t poisons you in the long run,鈥� said Newell.

Leakages are common. Since 1990, there have been .

鈥淭here鈥檚 a promise from Energy Transfer that they can shut down the pipeline from Texas within seconds of a leaky pipe,鈥� said Newell. 鈥淲e鈥檝e heard that promise before. We don鈥檛 believe it this time. Not anymore.鈥�

If there is a from the DAP, it would be an environmental and health catastrophe, Newells says. 鈥淭he Missouri River is the largest watershed central part of Midwest. From that part of river, it services 18,000,000 people downriver. If the water is contaminated, it will contaminate all way downriver. So it鈥檚 not just a fight for Standing Rock Sioux community. It impacts the whole country [as a legal precedent] and all those dependent on water from the Missouri River.鈥�

Standing in Solidarity

Newell鈥檚 colleagues, recognizing that the pipeline affects their brother Standing Rock Sioux tribe and beyond, travelled to North Dakota to protest in solidarity. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had atrocities going on for 500 years, but you don鈥檛 always see thousands of native people coming together to fight for something,鈥� said Nakai Northrup, an educator and member of the tribal youth council at the Mashantucket聽. 鈥淲e took聽聽and headed out.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not hostile out there like the media makes it look. There鈥檚 a family vibe. People greeted us and invited us to dinner. A lot of prayer is going on at these camps.鈥�

Despite peaceful protests, guard dogs were used on the Standing Rock Sioux, injuring six, including a child, and聽the use of that left 17 injured.

鈥淭his is something I haven鈥檛 seen since Selma. It brings back traumatic memories,鈥� said Newell.

The backlash signals how far the DAP is willing to go to protect its construction project. 鈥淎s a country we should be looking forward to the days past oil. This [the DAP] means we鈥檙e not looking forward. We all heard about Keystone for years and eventually we shut it down.鈥�

According to , chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, the tribe 鈥渉as always opposed fossil fuel development within our territory.鈥� Its focus has been on the protection of water resources and sacred sites. In this regard, the Army Core of Engineers was supposed to consult with the tribe before going forward with plans, but they were ignored, according to Archambault. 鈥淓ven if they just say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e gonna re-route this pipeline out of your territory,鈥� that鈥檚 huge for indigenous people,鈥� said Archambault.

In their fight to end construction, the Sioux are still in need of聽听补苍诲听,聽including winter clothing, as they continue to protest and support their camp facilities, which include a聽.

鈥淪tanding Rock is tied to a deeper movement,鈥� said Dr. Jason Mancini, Director of the Pequot Museum at a panel event at the University of Connecticut. 鈥淔rom Black Lives Matter, to Occupy Wall Street, people are tired of the government and corporations not really considering people on the ground.鈥�

He continued: 鈥淭he Standing Rock Sioux are really taking a stand on behalf of everyone. So how can you be of help? Start engaging boots on the ground. Stand up. If you can鈥檛 be there, support the聽. Participate in social networking going on. Individuals can make a difference and share ideas of the kind of society we want, what kind of future for our children and grandchildren.鈥�

Relearning the Past

The past is also of concern to the Pequot Museum. According to Newell, Native American history is not represented correctly or on the scope it should be in public schools. These聽typically focus on Columbus Day, Thanksgiving and westward expansion. Two of those subjects are based on mythologized information and the last one concentrates only on the west.

America didn鈥檛 begin in 1776. There is a lot to the history of this country that needs to be taught, the Pequot War being one of them. The conflict marked聽the first time a European power took on a Native power in America and won. Without the war, the English may not have taken over what eventually became known as New England.

Historically, Native Americans were only provided a public education in order to 鈥渁ssimilate and 鈥渃ivilize鈥� them, reports Mae Ackerman-Brimberg of the . 鈥淐hildren were removed from their homes and communities, placed in boarding schools or taught in missionary schools, and prohibited from using their languages, practicing their customs, or exhibiting any form of Native culture,” Ackerman writes.

鈥淲e have a lot of work to do,鈥� said Newell of current public education. 鈥淪chools are basically telling the victor鈥檚 side of the story.鈥� He continued: 鈥淥ur schools generally don鈥檛 teach about the Pequot War, without which the idea of the United States might not have not existed.鈥� Thanksgiving is also taught incorrectly: “[I]t鈥檚 taught that the first one happened in Plymouth, when it was really Jamestown. Columbus Day鈥攚e don鈥檛 teach that right either.鈥�

鈥淲e teach that the first reservations happened in the 19^th聽century, when really the first one began in the early 17^th听肠别苍迟耻谤测.鈥�

Schools in Connecticut are open to updating their curriculums and the Pequot Museum is helping them to do so. 鈥淪chools are hungry for good sources of new information,鈥� said Newell. This聽is why聽Jane H. (not her real name) of the Institute of American Indian Arts at Harvard University urges students and scholars to write more.聽(Her family is directly involved in the land disputes and in the oil industry and have signed non-disclosure agreements, agreeing not to speak to media regarding contracts, the status of the pipelines or the land dispute. But, as an adjunct professor, she did provide a history of North Dakota and civic awareness about the impacts on Native communities.)

鈥淲rite more about Native History. We need more writing to testify to indigenous roots and culture. So write. Write, write, write,鈥� said Jane H. at a panel event at the University of Connecticut.

The blessings of prayer and writing have also led up to the decision to re-route the pipeline, which is now Lake Oahe in North Dakota. Although the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been successful in protecting their water supply near the reservation, they are still , which has been sustained for months on end.

“We are asking our supporters to keep up the pressure, because while President Obama has granted us a victory today, that victory isn’t guaranteed in the next administration,” said Dallas Goldtooth, lead organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, . “More threats are likely in the year to come, and we cannot stop until this pipeline is completely and utterly defeated, and our water and climate are safe.”

*[Updated: January 22, 2018]

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

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